Tag: Prostate Cancer

It’s that time of the year again, when men grow moustaches around the globe. It all started in 2003, when two guys in Australia had the idea to make moustache-growing fashionable again. For a greater cause, they made this campaign about men’s health and established the Movember Foundation. As you may know, the campaign became an international phenomenon, attracting over 300,000 participants in more than 20 countries in 2016.

The Movember Foundation is now a global charity with one mission: “Stop men dying too young”. To achieve this, they are raising awareness and funds for three issues affecting men’s health; prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health. Here in the UK, the Movember Foundation has been working together with Prostate Cancer UK – the only charity that exists solely for prostate cancer – investing over £21 million in prostate cancer research between 2012 and 2015.

The prostate is a male-specific organ that sits just beneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra – this location is the reason so many symptoms of prostate disease affect the ability to urinate. Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate grow and divide out of control. In the UK, prostate cancer is the most common cancer amongst men and expected to affect 1 in 8 men during their lifetime. The word ‘cancer’ sounds frightening, but it needn’t be for all cases of prostate cancer. When diagnosed at the earliest stage, virtually all men survive beyond 5 years. However, when diagnosed at the latest stage (advanced prostate cancer) only 30% of men survive beyond 5 years, indicating early detection is key. (more…)